Khatem is bitter gourd sliced thin and fried until it shatters, and Bhutan makes no attempt to hide what it is. The bitterness is the reason people eat it, the same instinct that puts a bowl of it next to a plate of chilli and cheese, and it works because everything else on a Bhutanese table is rich. It is eaten by the handful with tea, or scattered over rice as a side. It also belongs to a wider habit in these valleys of turning vegetables into something that keeps and travels: lom, the turnip leaves hung to dry above a wood fire while the turnips themselves go to the animals, and chogoo, the yak cheese dried so hard you gnaw at it for an hour, sold in strands like necklaces in the markets. Khatem is the quickest of them and the only one you can make this afternoon.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 bitter gourds (about 400g)
- 1 tsp salt (for drawing out the water)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp salt (to finish)
- 400 ml vegetable oil (for frying)
METHOD
- Top and tail the gourds and slice them into rounds as thin as you can manage, no more than 2mm. Leave the seeds in if they are pale and soft, and scrape them out if they have gone red and hard.
- Toss the slices with the teaspoon of salt in a colander and leave for 20 minutes over the sink.
- Squeeze the slices firmly in your hands to force out the water, then spread them on a cloth and pat them properly dry.
- Toss with the turmeric.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan to 170C.
- Fry in small batches for 3 to 4 minutes, moving them about, until they stop bubbling and turn deep green-brown and crisp at the edges.
- Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper.
- Dust with the chilli powder and remaining salt while still hot, and eat with tea or alongside rice.